Is BOTOX Safe?

SARASOTA, FL, August 25, 2012 (Press-News.org) BOTOX Cosmetic has a safety profile that includes a low rate of complications. The most common risks posed by BOTOX Cosmetic are mild, temporary side effects, such as redness and swelling at the injection site. More serious complications are possible but rarely reported. To create the safest conditions possible for your injection, you should choose a plastic surgeon to provide it. The right professional is more likely to provide BOTOX injections in the safest way possible.

Botulism and Botulinum Type A

Most of the commonly held concerns about BOTOX involve worries about botulism, a rare but serious illness caused by a toxin produced by the soil bacteria clostridium botulinum. These bacteria create spores, which, under certain conditions, produce strains of botulism toxin. Botulinum toxin type A is the strain used in BOTOX. Although botulinum type A is one of the neurotoxins leading to botulism, the wrinkle remover BOTOX generally does not cause botulism. Botulism is sometimes a food-borne illness, and most often an infant illness resulting from the bacterial spores growing in an infant's intestinal tract.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 145 cases of botulism are reported each year in the US. The majority of these cases are infant botulism; the other cases are food-borne or related to botulism caused by wounds. Many of the food-borne cases are caused by improperly canned or stored foods. According to the CDC, botulism caused by skin wounds is most often related to injecting heroin.

BOTOX Safety

BOTOX has been used for years in several different applications, some approved be the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), others not. BOTOX Cosmetic is FDA-approved to improve the appearance of frown lines between the eyebrows, but plastic surgeons and other professionals use the medication for other facial lines as well.

BOTOX Cosmetic has a safety profile that includes a low rate of complications. Most illnesses associated with BOTOX are related to non-cosmetic uses of the medication. For example, a number of children experienced botulism-like symptoms after receiving BOTOX injections to treat muscle spasticity in their legs, caused by cerebral palsy.

Non-cosmetic applications of BOTOX generally require a higher quantity of the injections. Many plastic surgeons and dermatologists will tell you BOTOX Cosmetic has a solid safety record because it utilizes so little of botulinum toxin type A.

Getting BOTOX Safely

Like any other cosmetic treatment or medication, you should use BOTOX Cosmetic only after learning about the possible risks and deciding the benefit outweighs the risks. In addition to asking about possible complications, BOTOX safety may depend on who you choose to provide your injections. You should choose a plastic surgeon, dermatologist or another cosmetic or skin specialist. Professionals use the right BOTOX, in the right amounts, for the right reasons. Choosing an unqualified injector can increase your risk of adverse events.

To learn more about plastic surgery, please visit the website of board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Christian G. Drehsen at the Clinique of Plastic Surgery, with offices in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, Florida.

Website: http://www.cliniqueps.com